Cons: -Lack of interesting game modes, very few courses, replay value.
The Bottom Line: -People that have played the Tiger series before will be disappointed by the lack of meat. The visuals are nice, but the game, but the game fails overall.
pavona21's Full Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 for Xbox 360
Pav is back...again??
For any of you epinioners, or epinion readers with enough experience to remember my first and or second retirements, it's starting to appear that I'm back again to influence the minds of impressionable video game consumers. Yeah, I know, I know, I've got more comebacks than Michael Jordan and it's getting old watching me leave and come back. I agree, I should make up my mind. Being though I don't know how people rate these reviews anymore , I'll cut the crap and end the epilogue/life story portion and get to the review.
Golf and Pavey
Thought you'd get away with that short an intro? Hah. Golf has always been an interesting sport to me. It's one of those games where if you throw enough time and money at it, you'll soon become a decent player regardless of natural talent, size, and athleticism. For that reason, golf has a fairly wide appeal throughout the population, and with the help of Tiger Woods and Electronic Arts, the PGA Tour series has become a venerable video game dynasty to say the least. Hell, Ive been playing the games for almost 10 years now and I haven't played a real round of golf(Sober, at least) since I was in High School. That being said, Tiger Woods 2006 was one of one of the more intriguing launch titles for 360 from my perspective. So is it a hole-in-one or a slice into the woods? read in to find out.
My Grandma's Retirement home has more courses than this game
We'll skip the small talk and move right into my #1 beef with the game. The Xbox 360 version features only 6 playable licensed courses, and only one of them is playable without having to unlock anything! I know you may not be as outraged as I am at this point, but being as though Tiger 2003, for example, had 9 licensed courses, it came to a bit of a surprised to me that this is all we got. Not to mention that you could buy this year's PS2 version for 10$ less and get almost twice as many courses. My best guess is that EA was too rushed to get the software out there for the launch and decided to half arrsse it instead of taking the time to make a quality product. Surprise, surprise. Just for the record though, the playable courses are Pebble Beach, Riviera, TPC Sawgrass, Carnoustie, Pinehurst, and Turnberry. As I stated previous, only Pebble beach is playable out of the box, to unlock the rest of the courses you to....
Career Mode Tiger 2006 once again features a career mode where you, ideally at least, take your created player from Amateur to world class pro. You start off having to complete a series of challenges(closest to the pin, chipping, putting, that sort of thing), and then eventually work your way up to Q school where you can qualify for the professional tour. Problem is, in order to get to the PGA tour you have a play a lot of Pebble Beach and the other earlier unlocked courses. Q school itself, for example, makes you play 4 18 hole rounds of TPC Sawgrass. It gets the point where it feels so much like work that you wonder where your paycheck is at the end of the week. Eventually, your player gains experience points that you can use to upgrade his power, putting, accuracy, ect. and buy new gear, but it really never ends up feeling all that worthwhile. And once you finally unlock ALL 6 Courses!!!!, there's a fairly strong chance that you'll lose the drive(pun intended) to continue forward. If you don’t like career mode, you can, thankfully, play some other traditional game modes like multiplayer match play or skins games, or quick tournament.
Gameplay changes: This game isn't so bad afterall
So, I've spent a good portion of this review clearly tearing Tiger 06 a new one, but I have to admit, this title does have some upsides. The overall gameplay has actually taken a turn to more realistic side, especially on the putting green. Gone are caddy tips which allowed to make mid range(approx: 15 foot) putts with your eyes close, and gone is "Tiger Vision", which was one of the most ridiculous features in the history of sports video games, allowing gamers to sink 120 foot putts that break more than Joe Theisman's leg with the tap of a button. Now all you get is an overview of the green and its terrain, and you have to decide where you aim with only limited help. Along with that, Tiger 06 is also slightly more difficult than its predecessors. This is due in part to the aforementioned changes in putting along with some minor changes they made in the dual analog controls, which make some of your bad shots a bit less forgiving. That said, the game is very easy to pickup, play, and compete. Just don't expect to shoot in the low 50s every round.
Graphics: the game of golf is beautiful
Bluntly, the graphics of Tiger 2006 are more or less what elevate the title to "average". At the same time though, they are also the primary reason for the games shortcomings. I'll come right out and say it; This game is by far the most graphically advanced and beautiful golf game ever to hit the market. This series has always been at the top of its class in terms of animated realism, but 2006 corrects almost all of the major flaws of its older brothers and then some. You can now see individual blades of grass as you walk the links. The water hazards and scenic oceans are vibrant and moving. The shadowing is realistically shaped and actually makes putting more difficult at times. And lastly, there is a 3D crowd for the first time ever in the series.(And yes, you can hit them with your ball) And to throw in some video game jargain, the framerate is steady at almost all times and even the cuts between rendered video and actual gameplay are very smooth.
For clarification, I say that Tiger's gorgeous graphics are probably to blame for the game's problems because once again, a video game company has focused most of its resources on the visual aspect of the game, and the opportunity cost(economics, baby) of this is generally bad gameplay and overall lack of depth. [/end rant]
Audio: EA always does this right
Although sound NEVER makes or breaks a sports game, I'll run through it just to stick by the book. For starters, the commentating team of Feherty and McCord is back once again(at least 4 years running now) and once again they offer some decent edgy, although repetitive analysis. The sound effects are reputable; birds chirping, balls flying and landing, golf claps. It won't blow you away, but this IS golf, the least fun you can have with your clothes on. Finally, because this is an EA title, you get to hear EA Trax in the background, which depending on your taste in music is better than nothing.
Closing comments
After reading this review, you might think I have some sort of a bias against Tiger 2006, and to a certain extent, I do. I've been praising this series on this very site for years now, and '06 just isn't "up to par". Sure, its visually pretty, pleasing to the ears, and has improved on some past gameplay errors. But at the end of the day, it's got much less than its last gen counterparts, feels rushed, and has the replay value of a firework. If you have a 360 and want to see some nice visuals,(but dont want to play fight night 3) rent it. If replay value isn‘t extremely important to you, play it. The game is average, but at its price just isn’t worth it.
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